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This essay documents the triumph and tragedy of Mahatma Gandhi during the last two years of his life, focusing on the partition of India. The years 1946–8 were the saddest yet the most heroic of Gandhi’s life. He was shocked and bewildered by the drift towards the partition of India and the explosion of violence that preceded and followed it. Though Gandhi was able to save West Bengal and East Pakistan from a holocaust, he failed to accomplish the same in the west because by the time he arrived in Delhi in September 1947, ethnic cleansing was already almost complete. Gandhi could not prevent...

This essay documents the triumph and tragedy of Mahatma Gandhi during the last two years of his life, focusing on the partition of India. The years 1946–8 were the saddest yet the most heroic of Gandhi’s life. He was shocked and bewildered by the drift towards the partition of India and the explosion of violence that preceded and followed it. Though Gandhi was able to save West Bengal and East Pakistan from a holocaust, he failed to accomplish the same in the west because by the time he arrived in Delhi in September 1947, ethnic cleansing was already almost complete. Gandhi could not prevent the division of the country, but had done all he could do to mitigate its ravages.